


Small Town Mage

by KevintheJace



Category: Magic: The Gathering (Card Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25796944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KevintheJace/pseuds/KevintheJace
Summary: After having spent years working for a degree in computer science, Jace Beleren's life is interrupted and he's called from Ravnica City to the small village of Old Prahv by his adoptive brother Kallist Rhoka under mysterious pretenses. Jace finds out that his brother is desperate for an acute mind to help him uncover the cause behind the disappearance of his friend Jaya Ballard and one Josu Vess. Seeing this as an opportunity to solve a similar puzzle from years in his past, Jace agrees to help, but quickly finds that this town is far more than what is shown to the outside. Chief among these hidden aspects is the existence of the very driven, very ruthless Liliana Vess, who intends to ensure Jace finds the answers he's looking for.It's been a while since I've written fanfiction and I can assure you that this project will not be actively updated, as my original works will always come first. But I felt like seeing how far I'd come from my plot-consistency-lacking iteration of Ixalan.
Relationships: Jace Beleren/Liliana Vess
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. The Offer of a Lifetime

It had been a long while since Jace had set foot in the lands of suburbia.

Well, perhaps it wasn’t completely accurate to consider Old Prahv a suburb. It was technically supposed to be under jurisdiction of Ravnica, since it was within the city limits. But the town was actually far too isolated for it to be controlled by anyone except the local government. Random bits of knowledge like that had no business being in Jace's head, but...there was nothing he could really do about it.

Jace drove down the streets of the quaint little town whose architecture had a monotonous rustic feeling to it of a European village just barely connected enough to civilization to have a functioning economy. It seemed like the kind of small town where everyone knew each other and where none of the streets had been updated since the invention of asphalt.

Trees were starting to shift colors along with the passing of late September, giving everything a prevalent orange glow to it, contrasted by dark green ivy that seemed to be climbing up every building he could see.

Everything, including the roads and shops were made up of some variety of brick.

Jace glanced back at his gps again. He was getting close. Good thing too. He could feel the confused and cautious gazes of pedestrians on him. He was a city boy and had flourished in Ravnica proper once he left for college. But he couldn’t say the same about small towns.

Contrary to each setting’s size, cities made you keep a smaller group of friends close, while small towns made you intimate with nearly every resident. And as far as Jace could tell, proximity wasn’t the best thing to base a friendship on.

He put his full attention to the road once again. He’d passed by the town center without even noticing.

Upon the command of his phone, Jace pulled into a steep driveway next to a large house whose first floor was made of stone walls and whose second was a callback to medieval times, complete with a complex wood frame and lime mortar.

Jace parked his crappy 1996 Corolla that he never used, save for expeditions like these and shut the engine off. He popped a few ibuprofen pills in his mouth to hinder an oncoming headache he had a hunch was on the horizon, before grabbing his suitcase from the backseat and dragging it up to the front door. He knocked on the wooden portal.

The door swung open, revealing the face of Kallist Rhoka, a face Jace hadn’t seen in years.

“Jace!” Kallist’s normally scowling face broke into a genuine smile, which was honestly scarier than his glower.

Jace let Kallist embrace him and returned the show of affection.

“It’s good to see you.” Jace said.

“Come in, come in!” Kallist opened the door wide open for him. Jace stepped inside and left his suitcase by the door, “My friends are really excited to meet you.”

“Kallist?” Jace asked.

Kallist turned to him, “Yeah?”

“You gotta tell me why I’m here. All you texted was ‘Come to Old Prahv. Pack a bag.’ Then you sent me an address. Is everything alright?”

Kallist’s smile faded slightly, “I, uh...I think it’s better if I explain with my friends.”

Jace sighed, but nodded, “Alright.”

Jace let Kallist lead him down a hall from the entrance into a den with a low ceiling and a glass door that gave off a ton of natural light.

Four people sat in the array of chairs and a couch, inaudibly speaking to one another. Two were young women in their late twenties. One was blonde and had a stern, serious look on her face. The brunette was impeccably dressed and seemed more relaxed. She also had a cane laid across her lap.

One of the two men had his face obscured by a hoodie that seemed to shift colors with each step Jace took closer to them. The other had flecks of grey in his brown hair despite looking to be about Jace’s own age. He had an overconfident smirk across his face.

“Guys?” Kallist got the room’s attention, “This is Jace Beleren. My adoptive brother.”

Jace gave a quaint wave. He had intended to be more assertive with the situation, but with so many new people...well, Jace should’ve known it was a fool’s errand. The chill of anxiety was starting to creep up from his stomach.

“Hey.” Jace muttered.

“Jace, these are my friends. The blonde one’s Lavinia, the good looking one is Teysa, the shady one is Lazav and Ral’s the asshole.” Kallist said.

“I think we all unanimously hate that introduction, Kallist.” Ral, the one with wisps of grey in his hair said.

“Well, not all of us.” Tesya smirked.

“Um...good to meet all of you. But do you guys wanna explain why I’m here?” Jace asked.

“You didn’t tell him?” Lazav talked as though he’d raised an eyebrow although his hood concealed whether or not it had actually happened.

“Well, it’s not like I can talk about all this over text!” Kallist exclaimed defensively. Jace’s brother sighed, “Alright. Jace, you remember that brief stint you had as a private investigator?”

“Don’t tell me you brought me here just to make fun of me for that.” Jace groaned.

“What? No, dude, you were good.”

Jace had never actually been a private investigator. He was a high school equivalent. People paid him to do their homework as frequently as they paid him to find out if their boyfriend or girlfriend was cheating on them. Or what the next test in Calculus contained. It was a lucrative business, but Jace had let it all go to his head and he got caught snooping around in the files of his school’s online software before long.

“We, uh...we kinda need your help.” Kallist said.

“Need my help?” Jace asked.

“A friend of ours went missing a few weeks back.” Lazav said calmly, “Jaya Ballard. She and another guy vanished without a word. We found their personal belongings along with this.”

Lazav, whose hoodie still seemed to shift colors every second, pulled out a glass bottle from his pocket. Inside was a twisted sliver of metal.

“Isn’t a missing persons case something for the police to handle?” Jace raised an eyebrow.

“We would hand it over to them if they were just missing.” Lavinia said, “But we have reason to believe they were kidnapped.”

Jace furrowed his brow, “Then that’s definitely a case for the police.”

“The police won’t go after the kidnappers.” Teysa said.

“Why not?”

“Because this kidnapping has to do with something that absolutely cannot be spoken about in public.” Teysa explained.

Jace blinked, “What?”

“It’s complicated.” Kallist said, “But basically, even if the police really wanted to, they couldn’t solve this case. We need you to help us do it.”

“Look, Kallist, I came down here because I thought you had a medical emergency or something. Not to help you solve some Scooby-Doo mystery. I’m sorry about your friend, but I have a life up in Ravnica. One that, if you have nothing further to say, I would very much like to get back to.” Jace said.

“Jace, please.” Kallist placed his hands on Jace’s shoulders, “I’ll do anything for you to help us out. We really need to know what’s going on here. It might even help us figure out what happened to dad.”

Jace stared into Kallist’s soul with an intensity he never showed, “Do you really think this’ll help us in dad’s case? Really and truly?”

Kallist gave the most earnest nod Jace thought his brother could muster.

Jace looked away from Kallist, mulling over the choice.

Jace had a promising programming career awaiting him in Ravnica. He had friends he loved and a community he knew well.

But...solving the mystery of his father’s disappearance? Putting an end to the mystery that kept him up at night for five years and made him question his love of puzzles? Kallist seemed to truly believe that this would do it. 

A simple investigation. One that could put the skeletons in his closet to rest forever and tie up all the loose ends he had in life.

Jace nodded, “Okay. I’ll help.”

“I knew you would.” Kallist hugged his brother once again.


	2. Diving in Head First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace discovers Old Prahv is really bad at record keeping and decides to conduct some interviews.

Jace tapped a few keys on his laptop, closing his browser as the barista of the local coffee shop called his name.

After grabbing his heavily caffeine-infused drink, he spent some time away from the screen, pondering the scenario in front of him.

So far, he’d failed to find anything about Jaya Ballard or any kind of disappearance in Old Prahv. In fact, the town’s recordkeeping was such garbage that he was certain bronze age civilizations wrote more things down than the local government here.

No records from the police, zip from any coroners, nothing from funeral homes. Nobody even talked about disappearances on social media. But then again the population of people who could actually use social media here was pretty limited.

The only records he could actually access were those from the region’s IRS office. And that much required him breaking the law with a script his old friend from high school wrote up for him.

It’d been a while since Jace had last seen Tezzeret.

Jace could only use those files to figure out approximately when people went missing. Missing people couldn’t pay taxes, after all.

He opened a word document filled with all the information he knew about his father’s disappearance back when he’d tried to look into it. Jace didn’t know what he was expecting to find between the two files, but it gave him something to stare at so he felt like he was getting something done.

Jace’s thoughts started to drift as he tried to focus, as they often did. His attention kept getting drawn to other people in the coffee shop. The barista clearly didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life. A man in the corner hunched over his laptop was a week or so late on reports for his office.

Another guy with a ridiculously muscular build and tan skin near the center of the shop was...well, he just seemed to be having a good time.

His eyes drifted until they locked with the violet pupils of a girl standing outside the window in front of him. Jace couldn’t help but get the overwhelming feeling that she knew something he wanted to know. He let his gaze follow her as she broke eye contact and entered the shop.

She was almost as tall as he was, with porcelain white skin and ink-black hair that was tied in a ponytail that reached the middle of her back. The girl pulled her hands out of the pockets of her jeans to pull aside the violet scarf that had been covering her mouth to order a drink. 

Jace only bothered to look away from her as his eyes drifted to her slender torso, which was covered by a tight fitting black turtleneck.

Was that creepy? He asked himself. Jace himself was creeped out by the fact that he couldn’t read whether or not she minded or even noticed him watching her. He could normally tell what people were thinking or feeling just from a few seconds of looking at him. But aside from that declaration of knowledge in her eyes, the girl was entirely unreadable.

Jace shook his head and returned to his work. Well, his “work”.

He needed background on these disappearances, since according to Kallhist, this was something that happened on multiple occasions. Only after he’d exhausted everything he could find, would he go and investigate the actual supposed scene of the disappearance.

Then his laptop screen was forced shut by a delicate, porcelain hand with violet painted nails.

Jace looked up at the girl he’d been watching as she took an indulgent sip of her coffee.

She sighed as the cup left her lips, the hints of a smirk on her face, “You must be the famous newcomer, right?”

Jace blinked, “Uh...yes?”

“You know, usually you city-folk are way too jumpy for your own good, but to me it seems like your brain’s just slowing down, not speeding up.” the girl said.

Jace took a deep breath. Meeting new people. That was hard, but he could do it. Meeting new people with big personalities? That was a whole other ordeal.

He cleared his throat and met her eyes, seeming unafraid, “Is an insult always your go-to move with meeting new people? I mean, I guess it beats stammering, but it’s not very endearing for a first impression.”

The girl narrowed her eyes, “Hm...I normally just do it with the ones that seem easy to tease. Appears I was mistaken. I’m Liliana.”

“Jace,” he said, opening his laptop back up, “There something I can help you with? I was kind of in the middle of working.”

Liliana shrugged, “Just thought I’d get used to your face. I have a feeling you’re going to be around a lot. I hope you find what you’re looking for, Jace.”

With that, she stood, the motion fluid and weightless like a cat’s. She gave a slight wave without looking back as she left the shop.

Jace stared off in the direction she walked off in for a few seconds before opening his laptop.

“You know, sometimes I get why all the other guys like her so much. If not for that personality, I think I’d be on board.” a deep, booming voice somehow muttered and exclaimed both at the same time.

“Do I just have a sign on my back that say ‘come up and talk to me for twenty bucks’?” Jace whirled around to the second person to interrupt him.

“Woah, prickly much?” A hulk of a man towered over Jace, forcing him to shift his gaze upward, “My apologies, friend. Though to be fair, being the out-of-towner automatically makes you the most interesting person to talk to in this place.”

This was the guy who Jace’s eyes had landed on for a moment when he was drifting off. Somehow, Jace hadn’t noticed the sharply defined mutton chops this guy sported. And by some miracle, he made them work.

“Name’s Gideon Jura. You want my advice about how to fit in here? Keep your distance from that one.”

“Jace Beleren.” Jace muttered, “Two things. A, I don’t care much for ‘fitting in’. And B, didn’t you just say every guy in this town was drooling over her?”

“Well yeah, but at a decently-sized truck’s length.” Gideon took a seat at Jace’s table. Apparently no one here had ever heard of asking ‘can I join you’. “So what brings you to our little backwater, Jace?”

“Work.” Jace said absent mindedly as he logged into his laptop and considered pulling up the document he’d had before deciding against it and instead pulling up his dissertation.

Gideon leaned in, the scent of sweat and grime invading Jace’s nose, “Hm...what do we have to do with the advent of...cyber warfare?”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re nosy?” Jace asked.

Gideon chuckled, leaning back, “Sorry. I sometimes forget how much the city folk like their privacy.”

Jace sighed. He could spin this conversation into something useful, “Alright, I’m trying to look at how data theft and control of information will affect conflict in the modern age. I noticed that Old Prahv keeps like...no records. At all. Except IRS documentation.”

“Oh, well I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

“Could you tell me why it is that this place can get away with so little documentation? Or maybe point me in a good direction? That might help me with my research.” Jace said.

“Oh, definitely!” Gideon smiled.

Jace smiled too, but out of relief that he could get an accurate read on this guy.

“We have a local history museum here. The curator’s name is Narset一she’s lovely to talk to一and she should be able to tell you something about the why. You could probably get everything else by just going to town hall. I actually work there, so I could get you a meeting with my boss, Mr. Baan. He knows everything about law. I think-”

“It’d be great if you could get me a meeting with him.” Jace cut Gideon off before he could ramble any longer, “It was nice meeting you, Gideon. But, I do have places to be, so I’ll be taking my leave.”

Jace started to put his laptop away. He’d need a different place to work.

“Oh, yeah. Totally. Sorry for rambling so much.” Gideon smiled.

Jace returned his enthusiasm with an uncertain half-grin.

“When I set up the meeting, should I...I don’t know, call you?”

“I’ll probably have my phone off most of the time, so you could probably just drop the time and date off with my brother Kallhist.” Jace said, “You know him?”

“You’re Kallhist’s brother?” Gideon’s eyes shot open wide.

“Would love to talk about it, but I gotta run.” Jace said quickly.

“Right. Uh...yeah, have a good one. I’ll let Kallhist know, then.”

Jace nodded and just kept nodding until he left the shop.

A meeting with the local government would be a step in the right direction in most scenarios, but the fact that no police were willing to take on a missing persons case stuck in Jace’s mind.

He would have to dig up whatever information he could through indirect methods. In the meantime, he had tax reports to look over.  
_______________________________________________________________

Jace pounded on the door of a house that looked like it was built by an architect who never branched out of Victorian styles, just like every other building in Old Prahv.

A muffled voice came through the door, “Fuck off Gids! I’m busy!”

Gids? Jace took it that Gideon was a close friend of this person. This person being one Chandra Nalaar, niece and only relative in Old Prahv of Jaya Ballard, Kallhist’s missing friend.

“I’m not Gideon!” Jace raised his voice.

A few seconds of pause, “Then fuck off!”

Jace pounded on the door again, “My name is Jace Belleren, brother of Kallhist Rhoka. You might know him. I wanna talk about the disappearance of your aunt, Jaya.”

“Oh, now you need to super fu-what?” Chandra’s voice suddenly softened, “But...ugh, fine. But only because you’re gonna keep bringing it up.”

A short while later, a tall willowy girl who looked nothing like how Chandra sounded opened the door.

“Nice to meet you, Jace. I’m Nissa. Sorry about Chandra’s...dismissiveness.” the girl offered her hand. She was wearing nothing but a tank top and jeans, yet still had a sense of elegance about her. Not the confident stride Liliana had, but more of a...graceful sort of vibe. If that made sense.

Jace shook it, “Hi there. You a friend of Chandra’s?”

“I suppose that isn’t incorrect, but I’m her partner.” Nissa stepped back from the door, “Come on in. Chandra’s in the living room. I’ll get us all some tea.”

Jace stepped into the house and was hit by a force of odors unlike anything he’d ever smelled, even in his teenage years. It was a horrid amalgamation of aromatic scents and nice-smelling soaps trying desperately to choke out natural human odors.

He walked down the narrow hallway from the entrance and took a right into a carpeted living room with an outdated tv, a bay window and the explanation for the smells currently wrestling in his nose.

Chandra Nalaar was sprawled out on her couch, in nothing but her underwear. A blanket was crumpled on the ground next to her, but she didn’t even bother going for it as Jace entered. In fact, she instead took a cigarette out from a pack on the coffee table and lit it.

Jace frowned. He hadn't noticed a lighter. Probably just a trick of the light.

Chandra was about as tall as him with bright fiery hair that looked as though it had been cut with a kitchen knife all princess-decides-to-actually-get-off-her-ass-for-once style.

“Whaddya want?” Chandra asked, blowing a cloud of smoke in Jace’s direction.

“You...wanna put something on first?” Jace asked.

“Nah.” Chandra muttered, “You said you had somethin’ to say about my aunt. So say it and scram.”

Chandra sounded like she came from the city, if it were thirty years earlier. 

“Well, I don’t have something to say, so much as something to ask. Concerning the disappearance of her.”

“Look, I already told your geek of a brother all I know.”

Jace wanted to scoff. Kallhist? A geek? What the hell kinda standards was she operating on?

“Well tell me again.” Jace focused himself, preparing to weave through her words for a lie.

“Aunt Jaya said she was gonna go hang out with her friends. She didn’ say what she was gonna do or where she was going. She was supposed to be back the next morning. Next morning, she’s missing.”

Jace grimace. No lies. But then again, not much information. But also no withheld information.

“Alright, do you have any idea why the police won’t look into it?”

Chandra paused for a moment. She turned to look at him dead in the eyes, “You don’t wanna play with that, city boy.”

Jace furrowed his brow just as Nissa stepped around the scattered clothes and various items on the floor exclaiming, “Tea’s ready!”

Nissa set a tray on the coffee table and gave Jace and Chandra each a cup before taking her own and settling on the couch next to Chandra.

“Thanks, babe.” Chandra pecked Nissa on the cheek, “Though, I do need you to cover your ears for a second. I need to explain something really basic to this idiot.”

Nissa nodded, “Right.” She set her cup down and pressed her hands to her ears.

Jace felt worry start to grow in his chest.

“Look, Jace, there’s...something about this town, alright? Something weird. Don’t go asking around about it. Especially in public. If anymore than one other person even hears you admitting to its existence, bad things will happen. Everyone knows what it is. No one’s gonna tell an outsider. You’re only getting this much out of me because I’m an idiot. But I’m telling you, keep it quiet.”

“Well, could you tell me what it is? That way I don’t have to talk to anyone.”

“Noop.” Chandra said, “No way. This is bordering on dangerous. If you accidentally let slip what you’ve learned here, you might be okay. But if I go full into the danger zone, I don't trust you not to let something slip. Keywords: I don’t trust you. No else here does either. So put it to bed, city boy. That satisfy you?”

Jace huffed, but nodded, “Yeah. I’ll be outta your hair.”

“Now git.” Chandra waved him away.

Jace sighed and left the house. So...no one could tell him anything even if they wanted to.

Well...Chandra did point out that she didn’t tell him out of sheer mistrust. There were other people here.

Not Kallhist, since he would see his little brother as a liability, but...maybe one of his friends. Or Gideon. Someone had to be willing to trust him with whatever secret this town collectively kept hidden.


	3. The Spring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace resolves to investigate the origins of Old Prahv as a town and the secret every resident keeps among them, inadvertently leading to a meeting in the dark of night with Liliana.

Jace entered Kallhist’s house through the back sunroom and set his computer bag down on the kitchen countertop.

Ral was cooking up something that smelled as though it could be delicious, but some caution was warranted.

“So, you enjoy your first day exploring the town?” Ral asked over the sizzling of the contents of his pan.

“Eh. The most distinct feature of this town is the sameness of all its buildings.” Jace decided against mentioning the big town-wide secret. Kallhist and his friends had moved here from the city a few years ago, so if they knew, it may not be best to rely on them for all the information he needed. If they didn’t, well...that was that. “Have you seen Kallhist around?”

Ral nodded, “Out back. He and Lazav are playing with their swords again.”

Jace furrowed his brow, “What?”

“That’s not innuendo. They practice HEMA. Lazav introduced it to your brother.” 

“Oh.” Jace nodded, “Right. I’ll go find them then.”

Jace stepped out into the sunroom and left out a second door that brought him to the verdant, well kept backyard.

Kallhist and Lazav wore black mesh over their faces as they circled each other, wooden practice swords in hand, reminiscent of longswords.

They periodically engaged in skirmishes before backing out again.

“Stance, Kallhist! Keep your foundation!” Tesya shouted from a nearby stone bench. Jace decided to join her, “Hey Jace. Taken an interest in swords?”

“Me?” Jace chuckled, “No thanks. I’ll always prefer a stun gun or...just an actual gun. I did take you for someone who would know much about this stuff.”

Teysa shrugged, “I’ve been practicing HEMA since I was a kid. Though, I don’t know if that’s going to continue with my leg.” She knocked her cane against her right leg, which laid at an odd angle.

“What happened to it?”

“Car accident. It still works, technically, but I’ve lost all senses in it. Doctor said I probably would gain feeling there again.”

“Oh. I’m sorry about that.” Jace muttered.

“Eh. I’ve learned to live with it. But enough about me. Blades down, guys! Come over here!” Teysa shouted at the two men before turning back to Jace, “What’d you find out today?”

As Kallhist and Lazav took off their helmet and ran over, Jace began explaining.

“It occurred to me that this town does shit for record keeping.” Jace sighed, “But I did find out through some IRS records and some belonging to their predecessors that about five people have gone missing each year since 1814. This tells me that whatever is making people disappear likely isn’t alive. I’m not sure exactly how each person disappeared, but if it was anything like Jaya’s disappearance, then the perpetrator is likely a natural phenomenon. Maybe a mineral or some kind of dangerous gas. But this again makes me ask why no one will investigate it. So, I’m gonna assume it’s not something as simple as that.”

“Hm...I’d never considered that before.” Lazav muttered.

“This is great stuff, Jace!” Kallhist smiled, “See? I told you you were good at this.”

“Thanks,” Jace said.

“This still doesn’t explain the shard of metal we found.” Lazav grabbed his technicolor hoodie from the bench and pulled out the vial containing the shard, “All tests Ral and I have done on it defy logic.”

“I actually forgot about that bit.” Jace grimaced, “Uh, do you mind if I take a look at it for a while?”

“Sure.” Lazav said, “I’ll give you our reports about it too. Just don’t lose it.” Lazav tossed the vial at him, which Jace surprisingly caught.

“I spoke to Gideon Jura. He’s gonna get me in contact with a Mr. Baan so I know why it is the police have no reports.” Jace said.

“Jura, huh?” Kallhist frowned, “If vanilla were a person, it’d be him. I mean, he’s no doubt a credible source, but knowing you, I don’t think you’d put up with him for the length of a whole conversation.”

Jace shrugged, “I’ve changed in these last few years, Kallhist. I can handle a little small talk.”

“Just...don’t let him drag you to church.” Teysa muttered, “I mean, I’m a believer and all, but Gideon and some of his friends like it a little too much. And Kallhist tells me you’re a hardcore atheist. I don’t think you would appreciate each other very much if ever that topic came up.”

“Duly noted.” Jace muttered, “I also talked to Jaya’s niece, Chandra. She doesn’t seem too distraught over her aunt’s disappearance.”

Lazav scoffed, “Nalaar? Typical. She wants nothing more than to laze around and do whatever she wants. She’s probably glad the house is empty.”

“There was one other person I spoke to as well.” Jace said, “Liliana Vess. She...I don’t know, what she wanted from me. She came up and introduced herself, but she...it felt like she already knew me and what I was doing. I can’t explain it.”

Kallhist let out a low whistle.

“Vess does that to people.” Lazav said, “I’d keep your distance.”

“Gideon said that too, but why? What’d she do?” Jace asked.

“It isn’t really what she did, as opposed to who she is.” Teysa said, “Vess likes to take advantage of people. She’s broken the hearts of at least a hundred boys, but never without getting something out of it. She’s backstabbed damn near every friend she’s had. She’s a spoiled rich girl who likes the feeling of having power over people.”

Jace raised an eyebrow, “I don’t think that was the person I was talking to. She had a big personality, sure. But I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Just get to know her a little and you’ll know what we’re talking about.” Kallhist shrugged.

“Whatever.” Jace said, “I was gonna go visit the museum curator for a history lesson, but it’s like six, so I’d think the place is closed. So, I think I’ll do some of my own research. When does the library close?”

“Like nine, I think.” Kallhist said, “But don’t you wanna stay for dinner? Ral’s a brilliant chef.”

“I’ll pass. You know me, Kallhist. I can’t be interrupted from my work.” Jace said as he stood, shoving the vial of metal in his pocket, “You four have a good evening.”  
____________________________________________________________________

Jace walked into the predictably empty local library. The interior was full of ten-foot-tall dark wooden shelves that lined a single central pathway that led towards the front desk.

And at it, sat Liliana Vess. She wore the same sweater as earlier that day and a pair of glasses that for some reason made his heart jump slightly. 

Keep your distance. Lazav’s words echoed in his head.

Liliana looked up in genuine surprise as the door shut behind Jace.

“Well,” she said in her silky smooth voice, “This is certainly an interesting development.”

“Development of what?” Jace asked, “It’s a library. People use them. Sometimes.”

“Not here, they don’t.”

“Well that’s a shame. Looks like you and I are going to be seeing quite a bit of each other then.” Jace met her gaze at the front desk. 

“A shame? You should think more highly of yourself. You aren’t that much of a blight to my vision.” Liliana rested her chin on her palm.

Jace scoffed, and smiled bitterly, “You have any books on the local history here?”

“I’m afraid that’s the one thing we have nothing on.” Liliana muttered.

Jace jerked back, “What? Nothing? On your local history?”

Liliana shook her head in disappointment, “Not a thing.”

“You have a whole museum dedicated to it. Why wouldn’t you have a book?” Jace asked.

“Professor Narset pretty much pays for the thing entirely out of her own pocket. She doesn’t have time to write a book.” Liliana shrugged, “What’s got you so worked up about it anyways?”

Jace sighed, “I, uh...need more info for my dissertation. Figured a few hours at night with a book would be more to my liking than spending my daylight hours at a museum.”

“Your dissertation. Right.” Liliana raised her thin black eyebrows.

“Don’t believe me?”

Liliana narrowed her eyes, as if she herself didn’t know, “Fine. I’ll bite. You want information on the town’s history, go to Narset. She’ll tell you about the native Americans who used to live here and the urban legends. But you won’t be getting anything useful from her.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.” Liliana said, “I know that look in your eye. You’re out for an answer a bit bigger than research for a dissertation. You wanna know the real deal about this place? I’ll tell you. Meet me at old man Teferi’s old observatory Friday. Ten o’clock sharp.”

“And if I don’t show?”

“Well, you’d be known as the only guy who ever stood up Liliana Vess by the next morning.”

“Threatening to spread rumors? What is this, high school? You aren’t being all that convincing.” Jace crossed his arms.

“I’m not threatening a thing. That’s just what’ll happen, regardless of my actions.” Liliana said.

“Right. I’ll have to think about it.” Jace muttered, turning to leave.

“Oh, and Jace?”

Jace paused, not turning back to face her.

“You have a problem in assuming the worst of people. Maybe work on that between now and Friday.”

Jace grumbled, “Trust me, Vess. That assumption isn’t baseless.”  
______________________________________________________________

The next morning, Jace stood in front of the local history museum, hands in his pockets.

He was wondering whether it was worth it to spend his whole day scouring this old building all for something potentially useless. But then again, the museum was his only lead willing to work on his schedule.

The museum itself was a rather small building. It was actually a house, built in the same Tim-Burton-but-if-he-made-buildings style everything else was. Only difference was the yellow lines attempting to make a parking lot out of a driveway. But that didn’t matter much, since he was the only tourist in town.

“Screw it.” Jace sighed, slinging his laptop bag over his shoulder, “It’s worth a try.”

Jace walked up the steps to the front door and tried to open it. It was stuck. Jace hit it with a shove and the door gave, letting him stumble in and elicit a yelp of surprise from a woman down the main hallway.

He glanced up to find a woman with black hair and golden skin, likely of east asian heritage, aiming a spear at him.

Reactively, Jace held up his laptop bag like a shield.

After a second, the woman let her weapon down and sighed in relief and exhaustion.

“Does your museum happen to have an HR department?” Jace muttered, “Because I think I’d like to submit a complaint.”

“Sorry about that.” The woman put the spear back into a glass case on the side of the hall and locked it in, “I thought you were one of Domri’s boys. We get so few actual visitors…”

“And by we, I take it you mean you. Seeing as how you’re obviously Narset.” Jace lowered his computer bag.

Narset cleared her throat, “You’re correct. I’m Dr. Narset and yes, it is a mononym. How can I help you?”

“Jace Beleren.” Jace held out his hand. Narset shook it. “I’ve come here to write my graduate dissertation on the potential of cyber warfare to be the new battlefield for humanity. I noticed that your town keeps very little in the way of records, and seeing as how data is the main ammunition used in net-based espionage, I wanted to write about what a lack of records could imply about such battles.”

“Hm,” Narset grinned, “An interesting topic. I take it you want to know exactly why it is we keep so few records.”

“You’re correct about that.” Jace nodded, “Care to give me the tour?”

“Sure. I’ll take you right to the exhibit I have about the town’s origins.” Narset beckoned for him to follow her.

Jace did so, asking, “So you keep this place up and running all by yourself?”

“Yup. I got my degree in ancient history, actually. Sumerian to be specific. I even went out on the front lines in Iraq to preserve artifacts.”

“This is quite a significant downgrade, I’d say.” Jace said, “No offense.”

“None taken. The thing about history, Mr. Beleren, is that there are two ways of looking at it. Either you can look at the facts, memorize the dates, analyze the implications. Or you can look at the story. You can focus on the people who lived and fought in their time. You can try to imagine what they felt in their time and look at who they were, not what they meant.”

“This is your own manifestation of the second?” Jace asked, turning a tight corner after her.

“This place is an intertwining of both. See, no one here had bothered digging up anything about Old Prahv’s history before. So driven by the potential story, I dredged up and preserved everything I could.”

“Were your expectations met?” Jace asked as they made their way up a narrow staircase, “You get your story?”

“Oh, I most certainly did.” Narset said, stepping to the side as Jace exited the stairwell, “Here we are. The saga of Eugene S. Dakkon, founder of Old Prahv.”

The exhibit depicted several maps, several manikins with old nineteenth century uniforms on, and old guns and weapons of all kinds.

“Ther a, uh…explanation to everything here?” Jace asked.

“Well, I haven’t exactly gotten around to getting anything with information installed because...you know, no visitors and all.” Narset shrugged sheepishly, “But I can tell you about it if you want.”

“That works,”Jace said.

Narset cleared her throat, “Old Prahv was founded in 1805 by Eugene S. Dakkon, an old British royalist who joined with the native americans in the area after the revolution was won by the colonies. The natives believed that this land was infused with spiritual power and Dakkon followed in that belief. In order to study it, he built a settlement here.

“But the settlement was soon met by one Nicholas Boltan, an American general who wanted the land for mining purposes. He offered annexation to the tribe and while the chief was considering picking it up, Dakkon riled them up and convinced them to go to war. Obviously, the Americans decimated them. Eugene was hung for his crime of instigating the conflict and some say he’s buried somewhere here.”

“A war?” Jace muttered, “You’d think they’d teach us something about that in history class. But all that still doesn’t explain the lack of information.”

“Old Prahv is so secretive because once Boltan took over the town and built it up, he only spent about two years conducting mining operations. Since then, this place was just a farming town that helped out Ravnica’s food stores. But other than that, no one cared or even knew of its existence. There are some records that acknowledge us but we have a similar problem to New Zealand on global maps, but like five times worse.”

“And nobody from here ever moves to the city for the rest of their lives?”

“They do, but they probably say nothing more than ‘I’m from Old Prahv, that backwater down south’ and move on. More people know about the Vess family than the town they actually live in.”

Jace frowned, “Vess family?”

“You should’ve heard something about them, right?”

Jace made the conscious decision to play dumb, “I haven’t heard much. Who are they to this town?”

“Well, back in the 20’s one Lord Fredrick Vess moved here from Ravnica with the intent of starting up mining operations again after getting rich off the steel industry. His efforts lasted only half the time of Boltan’s. But his family stayed here since they enjoyed it so much. They’re old money, but ever since the decline in industry and rise in tech companies, they’ve been losing that same affluence.” Narset said, “They’ve a manor on...well it’s Vess street, so it’s pretty self explanatory.”

“I take it our pal Fredrick was a bit indulgent with his fortunes.” Jace chuckled.

“That, he was. Splurged on the old observatory as well. He had a weird thing for astrology. Though once he died, real scientists like old man Teferi took over operations.” Narset said.

Jace nodded, “Well this has been very helpful. I don’t know how to thank you.”

Narset shrugged, “Maybe visit with your friends some time. Or spread the word. Get me one paying customer and I’ll consider us even.”

“I’ll see what I can do. You have a good one, doc.”

“You too.”

As Jace left the museum and got into his car, his mind was rushing to reorganize his information. Disappearances, town-wide secret, a war over native holy ground, gravity defying metal shards and now two failed attempts at turning this place into a mining town.

Jace didn’t know why, but he felt as though there was something more than simple economic failure to those mining operations. In spite of Liliana’s claims, he’d actually figured out quite a bit of useful information. How it was useful, he didn’t know yet. But something in him stirred. The Puzzle pieces were starting to show themselves.  
______________________________________________________

Jace had cancelled his meeting with Baan, since that road didn’t seem to be offering up anymore leads.

Besides, when was he about to go around trusting what the government told him?

Instead, Jace was preparing for a date with Liliana Vess. Well, it wasn’t exactly a date but part of him wanted to think it was. He wasn’t as self conscious as he had been when he was desperately chasing after poor Emmara, but he couldn’t help being a little worried.

Even if this was just meant to be a source of information, Jace had never actually been on a date before. He’d tried his damnedest before, but his desperation always caused those requests to end in flames.

He’d managed to make himself stop caring so much, but with that, he never actively looked to get into a relationship and thus, had zero experience.

“You’ll be fine, whatever happens,” Jace muttered to himself as he combed his thick dark hair, “Your objective is to get her to spill, not put out. Get that sweet, sweet knowledge, boy.”

Jace talked to himself weirdly.

He set his comb down and left his bathroom. The room he’d been given was a nicely sized suite of sorts, much like every other bedroom in the house. So he had room to set up a massive detective board. He didn’t actually want to bother figuring out the name of a board you stuck clues to with thumbtacks and wrapped a mess of yarn around, so he just called it a detective board.

He frowned looking at it. He still just had a random assortment of clues. Until Liliana told him what the town’s secret was, he had nothing to go on. But somehow he felt like he’d pieced it all together. But there was no theory.

Hell, he couldn’t even think about what he’d do next without knowing what this current thing would get him involved in.

Jace checked his phone. It was 9. He still had some time to kill.

He opened Instagram. He hated the app. Almost as much as he hated Facebook, though the two were essentially the same. But he kept it around for one reason. People tended to think Jace’s ability to read people was some kind of natural born talent. 

Well if that were the case, he’d be pretty shit at it. Natural born talents were pretty useless, all things considered. He had some natural inclination towards it, but in order to maintain his skill, he needed practice. He liked to try and discern what people were actually thinking based on what lies and masks he could identify in their photos.

If he ever told people what he thought of their photos, he’d be the biggest asshole in town for being a condescending jackass, but the skill was useful nonetheless. And people tended to lie to themselves anyways, so what did they know?

The first picture he found, as per usual, was one of Emmara’s. She used the app rampantly. This one was yet another picture of her with her friends. It was the birthday of one of the three Trostani sisters. The four of them were practically quadruplets.

Emmara had been posting a ton of stuff since starting graduate school. Probably felt confused in this new sea of people and was either trying to convince others and herself she wasn’t such a fish out of water or she was still unsure about what she wanted out of life and still based her identity on whose company she kept.

Jace recalled a few bitter memories of sophomore year when he’d spent nine months being a creep due to his own fear and cowardice. He had once put that blonde beauty on a pedestal and suffered so much at his own hands for it.

But it was necessary. It’d be different this time.

Jace scrolled down. A worry for another time. He found a picture of a Tezzeret. He was celebrating his two year anniversary with his girlfriend, Baltrice. He didn’t know her that well, but Tezz seemed happy.

As always, Tezz was never seen without dreadlocks. Even his smile looked like a scowl. He still hid his prosthetic arm behind Baltrice. Tezzeret had gotten into a bad car accident a year or so back and had lost his right arm. He was naturally insecure about the prosthetic.

Jace liked the photo and moved on.

A thought occurred to him. He should see if anyone from Old Prahv was on the app.

After a few searches, he found and requested to follow Gideon and Nissa.

He glanced at the time. 9:30. Time to go.

Jace stood and took a deep breath, checking the mirror one last time. He was wearing a t-shirt under a navy blue jacket that he reserved for casual, yet special, occasions. Not trying too hard, but still worked really well with his style.

He left the house and got in his Corolla before setting his destination to the observatory on his phone and driving off.

Jace put on a playlist of power metal. Normally something electronic would be more suited for his comfort, but...screw comfort. He was gonna come face to face with the shade that had haunted him for twelve years. He wouldn’t be a doormat. He wouldn’t be an aloof dickhead. He might also get some information along the way.

He justified the absurd amount of focus he’d put on the meeting-a-woman aspect as a moment of character growth for himself.

The Observatory was a massive dome at the top of a cliff, like most other observatories. The night sky didn’t make the exact details very apparent, but it was a big boy.

Outside the entrance that the drive led up to, was a black Porsche with a woman leaning against the hood.

Jace parked his car and stepped out.

“So you showed after all…” Liliana’s voice carried like smooth, sweet smelling poison through the chilly air.

She was wearing a crimson tank top under a black leather jacket that cut off at her midriff and a tight-fitting pair of worn jeans. For the heiress of the supposedly richest family in town, she sure liked to dress like she was roughing it.

Her inky black hair was curled and pulled around one shoulder and Jace could see hints of makeup above her eyes. It comforted him to know she had put some effort into her look as well. Though, hers showed a lot more than his.

“I can’t resist the promise of knowledge.” Jace shrugged as he walked over to her, “So what are we doing here?”

“Get in the car. I need to show you something.”

Jace raised a suspicious eyebrow.

Liliana rolled her eyes, “You gonna have to see this if you’re going to believe what I tell you.”

“Tell me first, then I’ll see if it’s necessary.”

Liliana sighed, “Fine. But get in the car at least. We’re not safe from prying ears out here.”

If what Chandra said was true, the possibility of anyone listening in might lead to bad things. Whatever said bad things were, Jace wasn’t going to risk it. So he obliged Liliana’s request and got in the passenger’s seat of her porsche.

The car smelled like lavender and the feeling of the leather was exquisite.

“Nice car.” Jace said.

“It's whatever.” Liliana said.

“So the secret.”

Liliana nodded, “I heard you went to Narset’s museum.”

“Word travels fast.” Jace muttered.

“That it does. So I assume you know what she had to tell you regarding the origins of this town.” Liliana said, “About the war and mining operations and whatnot. Listen, bottom line, no one cares or has ever cared about the mining. You know the magical spirits the natives believed were here? They’re real. In a sense.”

Jace blinked, “What?”

“Did you ever drink tap water during your stay here?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?” Jace asked.

“Old Prahv’s water source is an underground spring. Except it’s not ordinary water. It gives people the ability to use magic.”

Jace just stared, “None of anything you said makes any sense.”

“Wanna come with me now?” Liliana asked.

Jace sighed, “I...I guess.”

“Good.” Liliana started the car and they drove off down a path that led into the forest.

“So...what do you mean by magic?” Jace asked as they drove.

“Pyromancy, law magic, artifice, telepathy, time magic, what have you. All kinds of supernatural powers.” Liliana said.

“So...there are people in this town who can stop time?”

“Not stop it, but there are two in this place who can manipulate it.”

Jace pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. And to think just a moment ago he was worried about girls. 

How the hell was he meant to respond to this? What was the correct answer here?

Jace was still stunned when the car eventually stopped.

“Alright. We’re here.” Liliana said, getting out of the car.

Jace followed her as she turned on the flashlight of her phone.

They were in the middle of nowhere. He could barely see the moon through the forest canopy. To their left, was a giant gaping maw of a cave carved into the cliff the observatory stood atop.

When Liliana stepped into the cave, Jace paused. Then he dashed his thoughts form his head before they could take form and advanced.

The two of them carefully traversed the drilled out hole until Liliana turned off her flashlight. Jace saw why. Just beyond, was a glowing light made of a multitude of colors. He dropped into the chamber after Liliana.

The chamber sloped like a rocky shore into a massive pool of water that continued beyond the walls of the chamber. The water was crystal clear, filled not with dirt, but with impulses of light. White, blue, violet, red and green pulsed in a cacophony of glows within the water. The sight was inexplicable.

“This is my proof. The spring.” Liliana said, “I’m the only one in this place who knows where it is, so you need to see how significant me showing this to you is.”

Jace tore his gaze away from the pool and looked back at her, “Why? Why are you showing me this? Why are you telling me the secret?”

“Because someone else went missing the night Ballard disappeared. You’re the only one bothering to even look into the disappearances. Everyone else is going on like nothing matters. Normally I would too, but I can’t. Not with this.”

“Who is it?” Jace asked.

“Josu Vess. My brother.”


End file.
